The Christmas Holidays
by caromac
Summary: An AU seventh year fic that focusses less on Harry's hunt for Horcruxes and more on what happens when he and Hermione spend the holidays at the Burrow over Christmas. Lots of Weasley fun, RHr and Harry's POV.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **The Christmas Holidays

**Rating: **PG

**Genre: **General / Romance

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, they all belong to J.K. I'm only borrowing them.

**Spoilers: **Post HBP. AU from then on. No spoilers for DH.

**Summary: **An AU seventh year fic that focusses less on Harry's hunt for Horcruxes and more on what happens when he and Hermione spend the holidays at the Burrow over Christmas. Lots of Weasley fun, R/Hr and Harry's POV.

**Author's Note: **I'm not sure the start of this story really does what I have planned justice. So if you like it a little, stick with it. If you don't like it all let me know why constructively, or if you have any suggestions.

Prologue:

* * *

"Harry, hurry up the train's pulling in!"

Ron's voice rose across the drawn out blast of the train's horn and bubbling crow. It was loud enough to distract Hermione, and she looked up from the crook of Harry's elbow, her eyes red rimmed.

Harry looked down at her as she sniffed, bringing a hand to rub across her eyes.

" Sorry about this Harry. I know we're probably coming back but - "

She didn't finish her sentence but she didn't need to. Harry nodded. No-one knew anything for sure these days.

Glancing back towards the castle, towering over in a way that seemed much bigger than he remembered, Harry felt a tug of something in his stomach. Something that was doubt, guilt, maybe even regret.

" Harry! Come on!"

Ron's red flare of hair was visible approaching on the tops of the crowd. At Harry's side Hermione pulled away to wipe her nose on her sleeve then throw it around Harry in a lopsided but tight hug. Sniffing loudly by his ear Hermione said, in a voice strained by tears.

" Bye Harry. I'll see you soon."

Harry only had the time to bring one arm up before Hermione was withdrawing again and bending down to pick up her bag.

" Aren't you going to say goodbye to Ron?"

Hermione shook her head, and sadly glanced at Ron's, stlll reaching way above the tops of the people stretched out across the platform.

" I said goodbye after we got off the train."

" Well should I say something - "

Hermione glanced sharply back towards Harry.

" No. And don't tell him about this either, he doesn't need to know."

Harry didn't feel convinced but without another word Hermione turned around and plunged into the crowd, lopsided with luggage, and soon all Harry could see was a brown head bobbing up and down and jostling from side to side.

" Harry! There you are - been bloody looking for you everywhere, and it's no joke carrying this heavy bugger around. "

Ron's arrival distracted Harry. His gangly red-headed best friend had suddenly appeared to his right wearing a woollen bobble hat and a confused expression.

" Hang on - where's Hermione? I thought she was with you?"

" She was. She left. "

"What? Why? Was something wrong?"

" Uh - " Hermione had told him not to say anything but the image of her red eyes popped into Harry's head. Plus, if he didn't tell Ron the truth he would be driven to distraction for days. No doubt he would think Hermione was mad at him for some reason. Wait, _was_ Hermione mad at Ron for some reason?

" Harry?"

Harry shook his head and faced Ron blinking.

" She was - a bit upset I think. She cried a bit."

Ron dropped his bag and straightened up.

" What?! Where is she now? What's wrong?"

The sheer number of Ron's questions felt overwhelming.

" Calm down mate, I think she was just emotional about leaving."

" What so she's already left?"

" Yeah, she told me she'd already said goodbye to you. "

Ron blinked and scratched behind his ear.

" Well yeah, but she wasn't crying then. Why didn't she not want me to know?"

Harry sighed. He had a feeling that unless Ron was absolutely certain that Hermione was alright, and equally certain he wasn't the problem that Ron was never going to shut up.

" I think she didn't want you to see her crying because she was embarrassed and she cares what you think. "

Ron in turn also looked very embarrassed, going red then reaching down to pick up his bag to have something to do. Shifting it onto his shoulder Ron cleared his throat.

" Yeah well, we'd better be going then hadn't we?"

Harry too picked up his own bag and followed Ron's lead. Other people's bags knocked into them and Hary could hardly see where he was going he just kept following Ron till they reached the edge of the platform where the crowds were thinning and the Weasley's were always stood waiting. The sight of 5 blazing heads of red hair set the family apart from the rest, and as soon as he spotted them a similar blazing started up in Harry's throat. It was time to go home.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Here's Chapter 2. I apologise for the lack of R/Hr but the purpose of this chapter is to set up the rest of the story. Plus Hermione is returning next chapter and there are better things to come, I promise.

* * *

The first thing Harry felt upon entering the Burrow was overwhelming relief that it wasn't Grimmauld Place. He, Ron and Ginny, accompanied by the twins and Charlie and Bill, arrived by side-along apparition straight into the Weasley's living room. It was only about 5:30 in the evening but it was cold and dark outside and the fire crackling in the hearth only made the room seem warmer, messier and more welcoming than Harry remembered. Just as good was Mrs Weasley's enveloping hug - " Harry this is impossible! You can't have possibly grown _more!" - _and the bacon sandwiches she forced on them, a prelude to the spaghetti bolognaise that was brewing by itself on the stove. Harry faltered momentarily when Ginny meekly said she had no appetite, and as he watched her scarper up the stairs moments after being crushed to death by her mother it felt almost as if it was 5 years ago and Ginny was still 11.

Later that night, as Harry and Ron were lain out on the living room floor, bellies too full to carry on the pretence of actually playing wizard's chess, the twins arrived, amid bangs and smoke in their usual fashion. They found the Weasley family much too tired for their liking, but still managed to involve everyone in a game of Wizard' s Snap, that was so enjoyable no-one noticed the minutes passing, the hours growing smaller and the night outside darkening even further. Even Ginny put on a brave face, and Harry could have sworn once when Ginny deftly won all his cards in one fell swoop that she had winked slyly at him.

As Harry went off to bed that night, one part of him felt overfed and pleasantly satisfied. Another, repressed part at the back of Harry's mind felt incredibly guilty about having so much fun when there were still horcruxes out there, beyond the Burrow's four walls, to be found. Along with their party tricks Fred and George had brought news earlier with them of more attacks. Lying awake in his bed staring at the ceiling Harry tried to reason with himself. There was no harm in taking a break if there were no new leads. If anything wouldn't it help to come back after Christmas refreshed and ready like Hermione had said? And there was no chance of Voldemort getting anywhere near the Burrow, there were too many protections installed around it. At least that was Mrs Weasley had insisted a countless number of times since Harry had arrived at the Burrow that afternoon.

The newspaper the next morning didn't help to ease matters or settle Harry's stomach. Mrs Weasley had tried to hide it, but Ron had picked up it before she noticed and Harry's heart dropped at the headline, emboldened under a blown up picture of himself:

" **WHERE****'****S HARRY POTTER NOW?**"

Mrs Weasley assured Harry to forget about it, but he couldn't stop thinking about the empty, stricken faces of Dumbledore and Voldemort's other victims all that morning.

Laying awake in bed again the next night, not just kept up by Ron's snores, a resolve that Harry had been formulating for a while rose to the surface once more. That once they return to Hogwarts Hermione and Ron should stay there, and he would go search for the Horcruxes by himself. It wasn't an idea that was appealing in anyway but Harry had become uncomfortably used to sleeping in the same bed every night and always having someone there to back him up. And although would miss his bed at night the feeling of finally doing what was right, and leaving Ron and Hermione out of it, would far trump longings for his dormitory bed. Frankly Harry couldn't face many more sleepless nights. The last few months now seemed a colossal waste of time and to Harry it felt as if rug had been pulled from under his feet. The clock was ticking faster than ever. He had to get back out there.

This resolve strengthened all week as he saw how much more relaxed and happy Ron was, how easily he could throw off the burden of the war when he wasn't searching for Horcruxes. Harry too tried to get into the spirit of things, by letting Ron engage him in every activity, in a desperate hope to take his mind off things. Harry even agreed to help Mrs Weasley with the Christmas preparations; which included decorating, cooking, de-gnoming and voluminous dusting. And when Harry wasn't busy with that he was engaged in snowball fights with Ron, Ginny, Bill, Charlie and the twins, when they could make it to the Burrow. Unsurprisingly it turned out Christmas was a busy time of year for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

Harry even managed to spend time on his own with Ginny for the first time since the wedding. It was after dinner, and somehow Harry ended up paired with Ginny for dishes on the chores rota, although by the way Fred winked at Harry as he sauntered out of the kitchen Harry guessed it might not have exactly just been pure coincidence. Surprisingly it hadn't been awkward, well not after Ginny "accidentally" spilt water down the front of Harry's trousers and he could hear her laughter all the way up the stairs. Once he was changed however conversation moved on to Ron, and then naturally the impending arrival of Hermione. Ron had been acting particularly twitchy around the twins as of late, who had gleefully taken to teasing Ron incessantly about his bushy haired best friend. Fred had taken to "accidentally" referring to Hermione as "Ronald's Girl" and Harry had spotted George once or twice drawing the letters R and H, enclosed in a heart made out of salt that had spilt across the kitchen table. As a result Ron seemed to be growing more and more nervous as the 19th December grew ever closer.

Indeed, the night before Hermione's arrival, as Harry was lying awake on Ron's floor certain his friend had gone to sleep, a voice drifted down from above his head.

" Harry, do you think Hermione's pretty?"

Ron's voice sounded so quiet and thoughtful Harry wasn't sure for a moment if Ron was talking to him or if he had just spoken out loud by accident. But there was some shuffling of sheets, and Ron's head appeared over the side of his bed, looking at Harry earnestly.

Harry struggled to think of a nice, neutral reply.

" Well, I don't really think about her that way. "

Ron didn't look satisfied.

" Yeah. " He said turning back over, sounding almost guilty.

" But that's only me. It's different for different kind of relationships isn't it?"

Harry thought he'd overstepped for a moment, but instead Ron agreed again, this time sounding slightly thoughtful and distracted.

As Harry drifted off to his sleep, his eyes drifted over Ron's wall, resting on the Marvin the Mad Muggle calendar Ron had tacked up there. Sleepily Harry found the small square that represented the day's date: 18th December. A day till Hermione. A week till Christmas. 15 days till - well, Harry didn't know what.

* * *

Feedback is one of my favourite things ever. Along with mittens and things with string. ( How does that song go? )

Next chapter preview:

" _Well?" Ron demanded impatiently. _

" _Well what?" said Harry. " Oh come on Ron, you can't seriously be angry at her for having friends outside of school?" _

" _I'm not angry! I'm just - " Ron struggled to find the appropriate words. " - offended!"_


End file.
